Dawn French

French bet Saunders she wouldn't write Ab Fab script

Dawn French bet long-standing comedy partner Jennifer Saunders a hefty sum of cash that she wouldn't get her Absolutely Fabulous movie script written in 2015.

Dawn French webchat - post your questions now

The comedy star is back with new novel According to Yes, and is joining us to answer your questions in a live webchat from 12.30pm BST on Wednesday 21 October.

Dawn French pays tribute to stars in The Interviews

Dawn French pays homage to The Two Ronnies and a host of showbiz legends in a new six-part series.

Jennifer Saunders won £10,000 bet with Dawn French

Comedian Jennifer Saunders pocketed £10,000 from her best pal Dawn French after winning a bet to write the script for her Absolutely Fabulous movie within a year.

Comic Relief Dibley punch was Dawn French's idea

Fiona Bruce has admitted that the punch wasn't in the script but Dawn just did it during rehearsals for the comedy.

"Did Iron Age woman have Playtex to guide her?" shouts a young Rik Mayall to a reluctantly undressing Jennifer Saunders. So begins Dawn French's superbly bizarre comedy set at a summer school offering a course in 'Iron Age Living', also starring Robbie Coltrane and Peter Richardson.

Radio Times review

The last time we saw Mr Bean he was bringing the house down at the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony, playing one note of Chariots of Fire. Can he (alongside Ben Miller and Rebecca Front) possibly be as funny for 2015's Comic Relief?

Anyone who's anyone from the world of comedy is on BBC One for this comedy marathon. Dawn French dusts off her dog collar to become the Bishop of Dibley (despite some famous rivals); and David Walliams gets in a right kerfuffle as patronising carer Lou, who appears to have a new charge - Professor Stephen Hawking. Miranda Hart, Stephen Fry, Russell Brand and Cardinal Burns also pop by.

There are stunts, dares and the unmissable sight of Dermot O'Leary dancing his socks off (will he survive this danceathon?).

In between all this hilarity are sobering film clips reminding us what this is really all about: donating money.

Review: Dawn French: 30 Million Minutes - Salford

There are a couple of moments when the show feels a little over-scripted but Dawn's natural charisma and flawless comic delivery helps to resolve this. The show finishes with an important message about making every moment count, especially the little ones. A moving piece of theatre from a very funny lady.

Dawn French on her childhood

When she was just 18, Dawn's father Denys killed himself. Growing up, she and her brother had been shielded from his depression. It was, she says, "just like a bomb went off in our family. My mum of course would have known there was danger."

Dawn French: 30 Million Minutes preview

The last time she appeared on stage, six years ago, was to bid an official farewell to her 30-year partnership with Jennifer Saunders. But this present show is less of a standard stand-up gig and more of a comic, but also searingly honest, look at her life.